REPORT: Hull City 1-1 Barnsley

27 February 2018

The ‘Beast From The East’ had hit Hull’s KCOM Stadium hard, with the white shirts of José Morais’ side blending in with the conditions, as the first half begun in a snow covered area of East Yorkshire.

José had opted to keep nine of the 11 in the starting line-up that began the match at Birmingham at the weekend, earning an excellent 2-0 away victory. The two that were unlucky not to be involved, were captain Andy Yiadom along with fellow wing-back Zeki Fryers. In their place saw a return to action following suspension for Dimitri Cavaré, with Dani Pinillos slotting back in on the opposite flank after missing the trip to St. Andrew’s through illness.

It was a quiet opening, with both teams adjusting to the conditions relatively well, looking to retain possession and grind the other down. Hull had the first real chance as Pinillos blocked an attempted cross from Ola Aina. An outswinging corner was met, but dealt with just as quickly and cleared.

Nick Townsend, beginning his fifth consecutive game for the Reds, was then called into action just before the timer rolled into double figures. A header from Diomande was heading towards the net but the ‘keeper saved well and cleared his lines again.

Barnsley then gained a foothold in the match and looked to attack, which very quickly lead to a goal through the on fire Oli McBurnie! The ball was played out to Brad Potts who found space on the right, the midfielder whipped in a delightful ball to the head of McBurnie, who did the rest by finding the top corner sending the pocket of Reds fans at the opposite end into raptures.

In what was then a pleasantly uneventful next 20 minutes or so, possession was exchanged again between the teams but no chances of note.

The first half ended however in difficult circumstances. Adam Jackson and Jon Toral keenly contested a ball into the Barnsley penalty area with both men going up and only to clash heads. Both men had to be replaced following the clash, with Jackson leaving on a stretcher following a lengthy stoppage.

Jackson was replaced by Matty Pearson, Toral by Will Keane. The whistle went shortly after and brought to an end what had been a solid first half display from José Morais’ young squad.

HALF TIME: Hull City 0-1 Barnsley

Three yellow cards kicked-off the second half. Former Reds’ captain Angus MacDonald began the notebook’s fresh page, swiftly followed by defensive teammate Max Clark. Next was Liam Lindsay, with all three players seeing the card within the first five minutes of the half.

Hull certainly had a strong discussion at half-time and were on the assertive from the word go on their home turf. The Reds had to withstand a barrage of early pressure. Townsend was called into action twice, with good saves from MacDonald’s header followed up by an important catch and hold from an inswinging free-kick that followed.

Hull did continue to pile forward though. The introduction of Andy Yiadom who replaced Mamadou Thiam meant a change of shape, with the Reds adapting to a 5-3-2 with Yiadom at ring wing-back and Cavaré moving inwards to a central three.

The yellow cards were like the snow in Hull, not stopping. Allan McGregor, Hull City’s ‘keeper, got in the act by racing out of his goal and bringing down Kieffer Moore on the wing. The home side had covering defenders which meant a yellow and he quickly returned to his goal-line.

With Cavaré the next to be booked, Hull equalised shortly after. A flurry of corners were dealt with but one finally paid off, as the ball into the box from Seb Larsson was slotted home by Michael Dawson at the back-post to level proceedings.

Head Coach Morais made his final change, adding George Moncur to proceedings in the place of goal scorer Oli McBurnie.

Four minutes of added time were signalled and that allowed the yellow card tally to be increased. Second half substitute Fraizer Campbell joined the list for pulling down Yiadom as the Reds looked to break. No further chances came and full time went to earn Barnsley their fourth point in the last two away matches.